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Major military operations during the Africa campaign (1940-1943)

Company Sonnenblume was the code name for the dispatch of the first German troops to Italian Libya to support the beleaguered Italian troops in North Africa in February 1941.

prehistory

Italy had declared war on France and Great Britain on June 10, 1940. The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini assumed a short war and hoped to be able to satisfy some of Italy's territorial claims in peace negotiations after a successful end of the war (an alliance was not concluded until September 27, 1940, see the three-power pact ). In North Africa, on the one hand, these consisted of an expansion of the colony of Italian Libya to the west to include the French protectorate of Tunisia . To the east, Italy sought control over Egypt and the strategically important Suez Canal , as well as establishing a direct land connection to its colonies in East Africa . After France was defeated in the western campaign and Tunisia belonged to Vichy France , Mussolini's expansion goals in North Africa were directed primarily to Egypt. On September 9, 1940, Italy finally invaded Egypt with the 10th Army .

Course of the war in North Africa

However, the invasion was not very successful and, due to the poor supply and equipment of the troops, it only came to a halt a little more than 100 km behind the Egyptian-Libyan border. On December 8, the Allies launched a counter-offensive with Operation Compass . Originally limited to just a few days and aimed at driving the Italian army out of Egypt, it turned out to be so successful that the advance into Libya was continued. By the beginning of February 1941, the Allied troops had occupied Cyrenaica up to and including El Agheila and almost completely wiped out the 10th Italian Army.

background

Mussolini had turned down a German offer of help in December 1940 to send troops to Africa . After Operation Compass ended on February 7, 1941 with the destruction of the 10th Army , he returned to this offer. In response to Mussolini's request, OKW issued instructions on February 6, 1941 for the start of the Sonnenblume company. First of all, a "blocking force" of armored forces was to be deployed to prevent the Allies from advancing further into Libya.

procedure

Erwin Rommel (front center) and Johannes Streich (right) are greeted on their arrival in Tripoli on February 12, 1941 by the Italian Commander-in-Chief Italo Gariboldi (center) and other officers

The first convoy of the newly created " German Africa Corps " under the command of Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel left Naples on February 8 and reached Africa on February 11, 1941. On February 14th, the first units of the 5th Light Division under Major General Johannes Streich reached Tripoli . They were transferred to Sirte without delay (in order to counter a possible advance by the Allies there if necessary). In the following months further parts of the 5th Light Division arrived, between April 25th and May 6th 1941 finally the 15th Panzer Division . On May 25th the parade was over; the Africa Corps was at the front of the British-occupied part of Libya.

equipment

The German Africa Corps was partially equipped with tank models that had been modernized on the basis of experiences from previous campaigns.

Among the Panzer III that were carried along there were some versions F and G and version E among the Panzer IV. These had improved armor and more powerful guns.

During the transfer of the 5th Light Division, the transport ship “ Leverkusen ” sank and the 13 tanks on board were lost. In total, the 5th Division was able to deploy 193 tanks in Africa:

The 15th Panzer Division contributed another 146 tanks to the Africa Corps:

  • 45 Panzer II
  • 71 Panzer III
  • 20 Panzer IV
  • 10 tank command cars (various models)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schramm, Part 1, pp. 307-319, Part 2, p. 1000.

literature